Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Meet The New Google & Its Colorful, Useful “Search Options” Column After months of testing, Google is releasing a new look-and-feel for its search results today, a three column design that […]
Siri describes itself not as a “mobile search tool,” as I have in the headline, but rather as a “virtual personal assistant.” The company went public with its technology and iPhone app just a few months ago and now Apple has reportedly acquired it for an undisclosed sum that is likely more than $50 million […]
In his iPhone OS 4 preview keynote last Thursday Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the following provocative (some would argue inflammatory) statement about search on mobile phones: On the desktop search is where it’s at; that’s where the money is. But on a mobile device search hasn’t happened. Search is not where it’s at, people […]
Have you ever thought twice about how to find the correct contact details for a local business – i.e., their name, address, phone number? The answer should be so simple: just Google it. Well, the reality is not that simple. In fact, few questions in the local online search world are as complicated as this […]
IAC, the parent company of Ask.com, reported their fourth quarter earnings today and overall, it was a good quarter of revenue for IAC, being up 5% year-over-year in revenue. On the income side of the balance sheet, IAC was up 47% from Q4 of 2008 to Q4 2009. Search, which includes Ask.com, was up 3% […]
When I’ve spoken in the past to people at Siri we’ve discussed and they’ve struggled a bit with how to present and “position” what they’re doing. Described as a “virtual personal assistant” — and called the “Siri Assistant” in fact in its formal launch — the company’s much anticipated iPhone app has arrived. There will […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: “Inkbait”: A Case Study In Linkability In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), the tactic known as “linkbait” is one of the few link building tactics the search engines embrace, […]
At one time local startups could reliably count on Google organic traffic to help build their own traffic and brands. Indeed, this is how Yelp gained visibility in its early days. And larger publishers, such as yellow pages sites, have relied heavily on SEO, as well, to drive traffic to their advertisers. However, recently that’s […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Good Bye Winter, Hello Santa Clara. PPC Marketer’s Dream Agenda I suppose the next best thing to dreaming about leaving the cold New Hampshire winter is to actually do it! Can’t […]
Not to beat a dead horse, but as I said in my last column, I think 2009 was truly a watershed year for local search. Between Google’s introduction of the generic 10-pack, its beta test of local listing ads, dramatic improvements to Bing’s Local Listing Center, and numerous partnerships throughout the industry— all of these […]
While analysts and practitioners have been prognosticating the imminent arrival of local search for the last several years, 2009 was finally the year that proved us right. A number of innovations and developments in mobile search, such as the widespread adoption of the iPhone, the release of Android, and a burgeoning number of location-based apps […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Behavioral Targeting & Google Analytics: How To Create Personas Following my last post on behavioral targeting, which was an overview of the field, I will provide a more hands-on approach in […]
MapQuest or variations on its name represent five of the top 22 search queries in the travel category (in November) according to Hitwise. However Google Maps is solidly in first place now as the top mapping site online. That puts MapQuest in the position of having to figure out whether to be content with its […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Goggles Search By Images Google Goggles, which I wrote about this morning, is actually now live at google.com/mobile/goggles. The Google Mobile Blog announced it, saying: In a nutshell, Goggles lets […]
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the inevitable collision of local search and social media, and specifically how social conversations are impacting the local search space. Reviews have been a part of local search for years, and sites like Citysearch, Insider Pages, Yelp, and others practically created and/or perfected the local-directory-with-consumer-reviews model. Today, […]
Congress’ debate on healthcare has sparked many different opinions about the right path for the future of healthcare insurance. Regardless of where that debate is headed, all Americans share the same challenge at one point or another: finding good healthcare. And that’s where local search comes in—to help connect medical professionals with patients. Recently, Dennis […]
There seems to be an explosion of “real-time” search engines on the PC. The space is very new, still fairly open and in my opinion the tools and sites are not yet all that useful. Almost exactly the same can be said of “augmented reality” (AR) in mobile. From almost nothing about six months ago, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: An Open Letter To Derek Powazek On The Value Of SEO Derek Powazek launched an attack on SEO yesterday that really said nothing that others haven’t ranted about before. I’ve responded […]
Consumers care about online reviews; small businesses (SMBs) care about what’s being said about them online. Most small businesses that are aware of the phenomenon of online reviews (and care) try to monitor those reviews by using a search engine or alerts with their business name. They also visit specific sites like Yelp or Citysearch […]
It’s time for another in our occasional series of search tool roundups, but this one is more focused than previous articles: Rather than look at a variety of random search tools, I’ll introduce you to a handful of Twitter search tools that may have flown under your radar until now. You’ll learn how to search […]
One of the challenges for a local business that wants to rank for phrases like “reno dentist” or “nashville accountant” is that the large Internet yellow pages sites and similar local directories often take up a lot of the real estate on search results pages for “city category” phrases. Ergo, one of the most basic […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SMX East Agenda Posted: All the Search Marketing Topics for All Skill Levels Come to Search Marketing Expo – SMX East for content so compelling, you may be implementing what you’ve […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: A Search Eulogy For Yahoo And then there were two. Make no mistake, Yahoo’s out of the search game. I know the spin. Better user interface, new ways to innovate, a […]
Yesterday Google held a private event for small businesses (SMBs) at San Francisco City Hall hosted by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom. Private it was. As I searched for the email confirming that I was “on the list” (because I was told I wasn’t on the list when I arrived), I saw the gatekeepers turn many […]
Having worked in the local search space for a while, I am often asked how is it that SMBs are so slow in adopting self-serve systems in their online advertising. And indeed, in the age of Internet advertising, when anyone can purchase keywords on search engines, is there really a need for a middleman anymore? […]
Google just completed its now annual local reseller symposium. A terrific event last year, I was unable to attend this year but heard from one attendee that there were many fewer resellers there than a year ago. Print yellow pages, newspapers, webhosting firms, stand-alone local sales channels (e.g., ReachLocal, Yodle) and a range of others […]
MSN and Live Search probably don’t get enough attention in the local search field, but the reality is that there’s a solid core of usage thanks to the default experience offered on many PCs — Windows OS and Internet Explorer. (On a purely anecdotal level, an old blog post I wrote about adding a business […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google is rewriting the local search space. They’re now showing local search results — a map, business listings, and more — even when searchers use generic terms that don’t include a local word. This was spotted in London last week, written about on Saturday by a California florist, and spread widely yesterday when Mike Blumenthal […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Thanks to Yahoo’s SearchMonkey, you’ll be able to poke your friends right from a page of Yahoo search results. Yahoo has announced that Facebook enhanced results are now turned on by default across Yahoo search results. This means that any Facebook user who has allowed his/her profile to be publicly viewable and searchable can now […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Yahoo has just announced that the Wikipedia SearchMonkey App is now turned on by default for all Yahoo search users. Wikipedia becomes the sixth app that all Yahoo searchers will see, joining LinkedIn, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Citysearch, and Zagat. SearchMonkey adds enhanced content to the search results page. The Wikipedia app includes a snippet of […]
A lawsuit over a Yelp.com review has been settled, but the larger issue of how business owners, customers, and review sites will co-exist online remains wide open. CNET is reporting that a San Francisco chiropractor and his disgruntled patient have settled their differences over a negative review that the patient posted on Yelp. Dr. Steven […]
The latest twist in the Yahoo-Microsoft saga comes from TechCrunch, which reports that a new group is trying to takeover Yahoo … with Microsoft’s money. The group is made up of investment bankers and Silicon Valley big-wigs, and Microsoft would loan the group the money to make it happen. If it sounds a bit complicated, […]
2009 is almost here, and I hope small business owners have already been thinking long and hard about their plan of attack for the new year. Those who have are ahead of the game. If you haven’t given the new year much thought, start now. Successful online marketing is about developing the right combination of […]
Google is testing a number of changes to its search results, including a way for select publishers to enhance their page descriptions, a way for searchers to jump to sub-sections of a web page and automatically correcting misspelled queries, to some degree.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.